


The Cabin Story

by Keiko Kirin (sakana17)



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2001-04-16
Updated: 2001-04-16
Packaged: 2017-10-03 18:27:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakana17/pseuds/Keiko%20Kirin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Plotless fluff about Daniel finally getting that fishing trip with Jack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Cabin Story

"So, this is it?"

"This is it."

"When you said 'cabin', you really meant cabin, didn't you?"

"What did you expect? The Taj Mahal?"

"I expected electricity."

"There's electricity. Just have to get the old generator up and running. Piece of cake."

Daniel walked out onto the deck and stretched his arms. "At least there's fresh air." Cold fresh air. He admired the sunset over the treeline. He sneezed twice. Jack fiddled with the generator. Daniel wandered over to the deck's edge, crouched down, and watched the water. "I don't see any fish."

"They're there," Jack called over. "Dammit!"

Daniel stuffed his hands into his pockets and wandered over to where Jack was beating the generator with his palm. "Problems?"

Jack glanced back. "No. No problems."

"Uh huh. Well, I'm just going to put my bags inside."

The inside was even less inspiring. The fireplace was full of old ashes and when he knelt down to check the flue, a bird fluttered up the chimney. Wiping ash and dust from his clothes, he stood and checked the kitchen. At least there was running water. Cold running water. Murky brown cold running water.

On the plus side, there was a couch, and it had only a thin layer of dust over it. He wiped it down with one hand and stretched out with his book, using the little clip-on light he'd brought with him.

Jack wandered in twice while he was reading, each time to flick the lightswitch, mutter something under his breath, and disappear again. Daniel dozed off.

"Hey."

Daniel blinked and squinted at the dark room. The only light was coming from the clip-on book light. He angled it upwards and looked at Jack. Jack raised his hands, palms outward. "Don't say it. I don't want to hear it. We can go into town tomorrow morning and pick up what we need."

Daniel closed his book. "I thought you were just here with Teal'c. How come it looks like it hasn't been used in ten years?"

Jack went over to the fireplace and started scooping the ashes out onto an old newspaper. "Teal'c asked me the same question. How should I know? It's not like I can hire a housekeeper to come in and dust once a week."

Daniel sat up and watched him clean leaves out of the fireplace. "Do you have any firewood?"

"There's some out back."

Daniel went to get some logs from the small stack. He brought back the driest ones he could find. Jack cursed. On the eighth or ninth attempt, he got one of the logs to burn. Not so much a roaring fire as a whimpering one.

"I hate to ask this, but what are we going to do about dinner?"

"Don't worry," said Jack. "Propane stove, and I have some canned soup around here somewhere." He opened a couple of cabinets in the kitchen. "And from tomorrow on, fish, fish, and more fish." He waved a flashlight over the cabinet shelves.

Daniel stood at his shoulder. "You don't plan these things out, do you?"

Jack frowned at him and opened another cabinet. "Ah ha!" He held up the can of soup triumphantly.

Daniel peered into the cabinet. "Just one can?" he asked.

"Teal'c and I must have had some," Jack said. He set his flashlight on the kitchen counter and retrieved a can opener from the drawer.

"I thought you said the fish were falling over themselves to be caught."

"We might have had an off day. Or two. Stop being so suspicious. We'll be fine. Soup tonight, fish tomorrow." Jack got out a pot. "And just in case, if it'll set your mind to rest, we can stock up on supplies tomorrow when we go into town."

"That would set my mind to rest," said Daniel, reaching into his backpack and hunting around for the package of dry-roasted peanuts he'd saved from the flight.

They split the soup and Daniel shared half of his dry-roasted peanuts with Jack. It was cold, and dark, and Daniel couldn't wait until tomorrow, when they could get food and repair the generator. Then he could relax and enjoy the trip.

Jack boiled some water on the little propane stove and washed the bowls and pot. He boiled more water for drinking and poured it into a thermos.

Daniel checked the other rooms in the cabin. There was, mercifully, indoor plumbing (with cold, murky water), although the giant spiderweb over the narrow shower stall was a little disconcerting. He held his book light up to it and watched for a few moments, until he saw the spider move.

Next to the bathroom was the bedroom. Daniel opened the door and a gust of freezing wind blasted him.

Jack stood next to his shoulder and shined the flashlight in. "Must've left the window open last time." He handed Daniel the flashlight and walked over to close the window.

Daniel watched him struggling with it and frowned. "There's only one bed in here," he pointed out, looking around.

"Yeah." Jack got the window down another few inches.

"Well... where did Teal'c sleep?"

Jack glanced back at him. "He slept in here."

Daniel lifted his eyebrows. "Oh. Oh, I see."

Jack frowned at him. "And I slept on the couch," he said. "Where I'll sleep tonight, Daniel." He turned back to the window and lowered it until only a small gap remained.

Daniel aimed the flashlight at the window. "If you don't mind, I think I'd rather sleep on the couch. It's a little warmer in there."

Jack shrugged. "Whatever."

They divvied up the blankets evenly. Daniel made the couch as comfortable as it was going to get and curled up under as many layers as he could. The fire had sputtered out and, in truth, the living room was only marginally warmer than the bedroom. He finished his book, switched off the travel light, and went to sleep.

A sound woke him up. He put on his glasses and sat up. Jack held up two fishing rods. "Ready?"

Daniel worked the kinks out of his back and shoulders, and yawned. "It's the middle of the night."

"Nonsense. It's after six o'clock. Thought we'd get a few hours in, get some fish for breakfast, then go into town."

Daniel thought the wiser plan was to go into town and stock up on food -- and find a new book to read -- but Jack looked so eager, he kept quiet. He got up and looked outside.

"Uh, Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Do fish like snow?"

Jack came over to stand beside him, and they watched the snow fall harder, turning the view into a wall of white.

"Damn," Jack muttered. "We better get to town."

The snow was piling up fast, and falling so hard that they couldn't see the cabin from the truck. A vicious wind blew from the north, creating a giant snowdrift. Jack shovelled off a clear spot on the drive while Daniel scraped the windshield. With every scrape across the glass, more snow gathered. Without gloves, his fingers cramped and he was so numb from cold, he wasn't even sure how long Jack's hand had been on his shoulder when he finally noticed it.

"It's no use," Jack said. "If it's this bad, the roads will be closed. We'll have to wait it out."

It was actually a relief to be inside, where it was at least a little warmer. Daniel wiggled his fingers to get the blood flowing again and Jack made a fire.

"It can't last long," Jack said. Daniel sat cross-legged in front of the fire and warmed his hands and face. He pulled a cushion off the couch and rested against it, dozing off while Jack spoke of "freak snowstorms," "Canadian fronts," and "lake effect."

A crash and some pounding woke him up. The fire was burning low, so he poked at it and added another log, then went to investigate. The pounding was Jack moving his bed around. The crash was most likely the pane of glass that was missing from the bedroom window.

Daniel leaned against the doorjamb and folded his arms over his chest. "What happened?"

"I was trying to close the window and the glass fell out." Jack got behind the headboard and pushed. "You wanna help me with this?"

"What are you doing?"

Jack gave him an exasperated look. "Well, I can't sleep in here, with the half the window gone. Help me move the bed into the other room."

Daniel sized up the bed and looked around at the doorway. "How on earth did you ever get it in here in the first place?"

Jack stopped pushing and stared at the doorjamb. "Oh. We must have hauled it in on its side. I think. It was a long time ago."

Daniel started stripping off the bedclothes. "We'll have to move the mattress separately, in that case."

Once they'd dragged the mattress into the other room and let it drop next to the couch, in front of the fire, Jack caught his breath and declared the bedframe a luxury he could do without. "It's only for tonight, anyway," he said.

"Wishful thinking," Daniel murmured under his breath.

Jack went to get more logs. Daniel made a thorough search of the cabin for reading material and found two old newspapers obviously kept for kindling, not study. He blew the dust off of them, anyway, and took up his spot on the cushion by the fire and started reading. Jack returned, deposited the logs, stamped snow off his shoes and blocked the fire while he warmed up. Daniel patiently waited for him to move, and glanced up when he did. Jack was holding his fishing rod.

"Don't tell me..." Daniel said, dismayed.

"Don't worry. You can stay in here." Daniel listened for a hint of disapproval.

"But, Jack, it's a blizzard out there."

"So? That doesn't mean there aren't a few fish to be had. Eskimos must do this all the time."

"Native Arctic peoples. And Minnesota hardly counts as polar ice fishing territory."

"You don't know Minnesota." Jack's tone was glib, but he gave Daniel a serious look. They needed food.

Daniel nodded. "Take my jacket, too," he said. Jack, bundled up in multiple sweaters and jackets, opened the door and braved the storm.

Daniel couldn't concentrate on the local news from 1998 after that. He found a small step-ladder in the kitchen and started a systematic sweep of all the cabinets. He found another can of soup, which set his mind to rest. At least they wouldn't starve. He also found a single packet of Kool-Aid lemonade mix, obviously very old. He puzzled over it for a moment. Then he looked back at the main room and could picture, quite clearly, Jack with Sara and Charlie, laughing, stringing up fishing rods, enjoying the sunshine of a summer's day. He put the packet back and closed the cabinet.

In the very back of the lower cabinet, he found a single packet of saltine crackers. Unopened, but he could just imagine how stale they were. He grimaced, but set them on the counter nevertheless. Food was food.

He started the propane stove and boiled a saucepan of water. It seemed like something useful to do. Jack came inside, shutting out a gust of snow and wind.

"Ta da!" He held up a fish and grinned triumphantly.

Daniel looked at the fish. "It's not very big..." He trailed off, seeing Jack's dark look. Changing the subject, he tapped the soup can. "I found something, too."

"Uh huh." Jack laid the fish out on a cutting board, gave him another dark look, and peeled out of several layers of jacket and sweater.

Daniel went back to the newspaper while Jack worked on the fish. Once it was frying over the stove, Daniel had to admit it smelled good. Of course, he hadn't had anything to eat all day, so old shoe leather would have smelled good.

Jack divided the fish into two equal portions. It didn't taste too bad, and only a few bones to pick out. After they'd eaten, Jack's mood improved. Daniel sat in front of the fire and read more newspaper, down to the obituaries and classifieds already. Jack fiddled around with stuff in his tackle box. The cabin was getting dark. Daniel checked his watch. It was only four o'clock in the afternoon.

"Has it stopped snowing?"

Jack wandered over to the window. "Nope." He wandered back and poked at the fire for a while.

Daniel watched him. "Are all your fishing trips this fun?"

Jack glanced down at him, still holding the poker. Daniel stared at him over the rims of his glasses. Jack turned back to the fire.

"There's no way I could have known about the blizzard, Daniel. And the generator was working fine last time I was here."

Daniel sighed and stood up, walking around and stretching his arms. "I know. It's not your fault. It's just... Now what do we do?"

He stopped pacing and looked at Jack, who was watching him warily. They stared at each other until Jack smiled. "I know," he said.

Daniel furrowed his brow. "What do you know?"

"What we can do."

"And what would that be?" Daniel crossed his arms and watched Jack open a drawer.

Jack turned around and tossed something in the air. Daniel caught it. It was a pack of cards.

"I knew I had some here. I was teaching Teal'c how to play poker."

Daniel opened the pack. "Two-handed poker?"

"Just for training purposes." Jack moved the table closer to the fire and set up two chairs.

"Well," Daniel said, sitting down and shuffling the deck, "he does have the perfect poker face."

Jack sat down opposite. "You're telling me. We should take him to Vegas."

Daniel looked up. Jack grinned, and Daniel had a surreal vision of Teal'c in Las Vegas. He laughed and shook his head.

"Actually, we should take Sam," Jack said. "Brain like hers, she'll figure out all the odds. I bet she can count cards, too."

Daniel shuffled again and started dealing. "Next vacation, Vegas. Definitely." He glanced at Jack, smiling. "It doesn't snow there, does it?"

Jack gathered up his cards and raised an eyebrow. "That's right, keep making jokes. Just remember who it was who caught the fish."

They played cards by flashlight until Daniel saw hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs whenever he shut his eyes. He was hungry again, and kept thinking about that can of soup. It was giving him a headache.

Jack started dealing another hand, but stopped mid-way. "Tired?" Daniel nodded.

They moved the table back and got the mattress and couch ready as makeshift beds. Jack put another log on the fire. Daniel curled up on the couch. Jack sat in front of the fire and played solitaire. Daniel watched him for a while, until he went to sleep.

When he woke up in the morning, Jack was standing in front of the window, looking outside. Daniel got up.

Jack glanced over at him. "The good news is that it stopped snowing."

Daniel put on his glasses. "And the bad news?"

Jack stepped away from the window. Snow came up a third of the way, and stretched on as far as the eye could see.

"Oh."

They had logs. They had cards. They had the can of soup, which they agreed to save for an early dinner. Jack made an odd sort of gruel from crushed up stale saltines and boiled water, which they had for breakfast. Daniel had one newspaper left.

He was reading the Dear Abby column when Jack decided to start digging the snow away from the door. When he'd cleared a big enough patch, Daniel joined him. They had a five-foot stretch of snow wall leading from the front door by late afternoon, when they broke for soup.

After eating, they dug some more, in the dark. The moonlight made the snow glisten in the night. Jack stopped to rest. Daniel looked back at the corridor they'd created.

"I hate to ask this, but are we going in the right direction?"

"We're heading for the truck." Jack pointed at a lump in the distance. "That's the top of it."

It looked like it was miles away. Daniel slumped against the snow. "Oh."

Jack patted his shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll make it out of here. It stopped snowing, and the sky's clear."

Daniel nodded wearily and went back inside. He was already curled up under the blankets on the couch when Jack came back inside. The fire had almost died, so Jack went to work on it. Jack crumpled some paper and lit it.

Daniel sat up straight. "Wait! No!" Jack looked back over his shoulder, tossing the newspaper into the fireplace, where it blazed next to the new log.

Daniel rubbed the bridge of his nose. "That was the one I hadn't finished reading."

Jack winced. "Sorry."

Daniel lay back down and pulled the blanket more tightly around him. "The cards go next."

"Okay."

Jack had the gruel ready when Daniel woke up the next morning. He brought a bowl over to Daniel on the couch. Daniel wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and sipped at it. Jack stood over him, smiling.

Daniel eyed him suspiciously. "What are you so cheerful about this morning?"

"You'll see."

Daniel drank another spoonful of gruel, paused, and looked up at Jack again. He set the bowl aside, shrugged out of the blanket, and went over to the window. The snow looked a little lower than yesterday, but it still came up to the window. He opened the front door.

The snow corridor curved out of sight now. He followed it part-way, stopped, and turned around. Jack stood behind him, smiling, eyebrows raised.

"But... You did all this? Last night?"

"All the way to the truck," Jack said. "And that's not all. I dug the truck out enough so I think we can move it. The snow's low enough now, we can get to the road from here."

Daniel looked from Jack to the truck, sitting at the end of the snow walls. "And you did all that? Last night? Alone?"

Jack walked back to the cabin. "O, ye of little faith."

Daniel followed him inside. "I know, I know. You caught the fish, you dug us out."

Jack rubbed the back of Daniel's head, messing his hair. "You helped," he said generously. "With the digging."

Jack drove the truck to the main road, a trip which was not without its hair-raising moments, but they made it. Then he let Daniel drive them to town, while he napped. Daniel was happy to let him; after all, he'd earned it.

In town, they went to the diner and ordered half the entire menu, checked into the local motel, and Daniel took the truck to the gas station, where he bought a few newsmagazines while he filled her up. The highways were clear, and the next day, they were able to drive to the airport and fly back to Colorado.

On his first day back, Daniel was having lunch in the SGC commissary and catching up on his backlog of reports, when Teal'c appeared and stood across from him. Daniel looked up.

"Teal'c."

Teal'c inclined his head. "Daniel Jackson. I understand you went fishing with O'Neill."

Daniel closed the report he was reading. "Yes."

Teal'c stared at him for a few moments. "I see." Teal'c's look was as close to sympathetic understanding as Daniel had ever seen. Teal'c nodded and left him alone without asking for details.

Later, in his office, Sam knocked on the doorjamb and stepped inside, smiling but looking concerned.

"Hello, Sam," he said, marking his place in the book he was reading.

Sam clasped her hands behind her back. "So? How did it go?"

"It, uh, it snowed."

"Oh." Sam's eyes widened, and her smile faded. "Well, there's always next time."

Daniel stared at her. Then he had a flash of an image of Sam at a blackjack table and Teal'c at a slot machine. He smiled and said, "Actually, we came up with a better idea for next time."

Leaving Sam to wonder, he went back to his book.

(the end)


End file.
